Just a thought - sibilance is either present in a recording or it isn't. Its a product of the recording and mastering. An earphone will either present it, mask it, or accentuate it - but it has to be there to reproduce it. What is the recording? Can you get a better master? Alternative is to knock down 7kHz with EQ (maybe -4dB).
sibilance is either present in a recording or it isn't. Its a product of the recording and mastering. An earphone will either present it, mask it, or accentuate it - but it has to be there to reproduce it.
Completely agree. In fact, if we're lucky, we'll even find a magical earphone that adds distortion in such a way that even sibilance is presented in a very sweet and seductive way. Sibilance isn't really something that we attribute a positive characteristic to, but man...when you hear an earphone that sugar-coats this apparently undesirable "mistake" in the mastering process...oh man...
I'd like to know what sources I can use to do the FH7 justice. I think my E17K is starting to get long in the tooth. I still find it hard to part ways with it, though.
I first tried the FH7 at work from my iFi iDSD Black Label and was ecstatic over the surprisingly strong bass, clarity and no V-shaped response. I was more surprise to find when I got home and tried them with my ES100 they sounded OK, but kind of anemic compared to what I heard at work.
I'm wondering if these things need some power to show their stuff.
EDIT: Answering my own question ... I'll stick some balanced cables on and try from the ES100 balanced output.
IMO FH7 is lot better. I've changed DM6 for CA IO, which have about same signature but better detail, texture and technicalities, but in comparison with FH7, FH7 is even better. At balanced settings have more bass, and less treble, but from upper tier. Soundstage also is much bigger.
I am still hearing the sibilance. I have a fresh ripped Norah Jones CD in WAV format through a Q5 and its pretty noticeable. It may be just my hearing. I am not completely convinced it’s me but I will keep experimenting.
I first tried the FH7 at work from my iFi iDSD Black Label and was ecstatic over the surprisingly strong bass, clarity and no V-shaped response. I was more surprise to find when I got home and tried them with my ES100 they sounded OK, but kind of anemic compared to what I heard at work.
I'm wondering if these things need some power to show their stuff.
In my opinion, the Micro BL is darker sounding than the ES100. I just tried the same test you mentioned and got the same results you described. I'm not sure if this is related to power or just the nature of the source. The FH7 sounds similar from my V35 / ES100 / Dragonfly Red, but somewhat darker from the iDSD Micro BL. All of these differences are pretty subtle to my ears, I enjoy the FH7 from everything so far.
IMO FH7 is lot better. I've changed DM6 for CA IO, which have about same signature but better detail, texture and technicalities, but in comparison with FH7, FH7 is even better. At balanced settings have more bass, and less treble, but from upper tier. Soundstage also is much bigger.
Update: I believe I found the issue with the sibilance I am hearing. It’s my ears. I got out the old Hd600 and I could hear it there too. It’s a little more pronounced on the FH7 as they are a bit brighter. This is something recent so please don’t judge the FH7 based on my comments. There is something going on with my hearing.
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